On Friday, the Rocky Mountain Collegian published what they called an editorial. Here it is, in its entirety:

“Taser this … F*** BUSH”

Yep, that’s all of it. That’s the entire thing. Four little words. (Note: I have tried repeatedly to load an actual image of the page, but can’t get it to load properly. In the actual paper, they used the word in bold caps without masking any of the letters. You can view the image on my blog in this entry.)

I wonder if using the big bad “F” word made them feel all mature and stuff? Did they feel all cool because they cussed and got away with it? (You gotta wonder, too, just what Mom and Dad will think of Junior’s journalism talents. Wonder if they think they’re getting the most for their education dollars?)

J. David McSwane, the Collegian’s editor-in-chief and a CSU junior, claims that the newspaper’s student editors decided to use the obscenity because they believe CSU students are apathetic about their freedom of speech and other rights. “We thought the best way to illustrate that point was to use our freedoms.” The editors deliberately chose not to seek advice from the newspaper’s professional advisers in advance, presumably because they knew what they’d be told to do with their “editorial.”

The newspaper’s business manager said the operation lost $30,000 in advertising in the first few hours after the editorial was published. He says that the pay of student staffers would be cut 10 percent to compensate. McSwane says he isn’t going to quit, although he acknowledges that he might be fired. The college says they’re investigating the matter.

Someone needs to explain to McSwane and his buddies how the first amendment works. They need to learn that just because you can say something doesn’t mean that you should — and that there very well may be repercussions for exercising that right. They seem to be operating under the misconception that the first amendment protects your speech from everyone — when in reality it only protects you from the government. Somehow, though, I suspect they’ll be learning that one.

1 user commented in " Such insight! Such depth! "

Would I hire him in my newsroom? Not a chance. Not because he’s an inarticulate freak. Not because his vocabulary seems woefully limited. Not because he’s apparently incapable of original thought. Not because he’s a heckler who prefers to stand at the back of the crowd and shout profanity instead of leading a crowd to a positive conclusion. Not because he’s heckling Bush (I’d feel the same if it was Hillary or Obama.) Not because he showed disrespect for his publisher and his community. Not because he can’t seem to surrender his knee-jerk politics to the greater purpose of writing wisdom.

But because he seems to have no ability to step back from his narcissism and say something that’s worth the price of ink and dead trees. This masturbatory little punk put himself first, not his readers.

I won’t consumer any more of your bandwidth. I blooged more fully about his at Under The News

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